Abstract
For pt.II, see ibid, vol.6, p.349-62 (1990). A simplified semi-analytic model of atmospheric transport is used to obtain error estimates for sources deduced from the spatial distribution of greenhouse gases. These estimates quantify the extent of the trade off between resolution and variance in the inversion problem. They show that the results of atmospheric transport modelling cannot be readily incorporated into studies yielding regional AUK estimates for trace gases, without taking explicit account of the reduced resolution arising in the inversion of concentration data.